Coco Gauff started off her 2024 Italian Open campaign with a tremendous performance and an easy win over Magdalena Frech.
Gauff once played in the Roland Garros final, which shows that she's a very good clay player. Her level fluctuates often, though, so sometimes, she doesn't really perform up to the level we've gotten used to from her.
This match was certainly at a level that's good enough to carry her into the final stages of this WTA 1000 event. She faced a player with whom she generally has an easy time, and that proved the case once more.
Frech didn't really play her best tennis because her best tennis usually comes on faster surfaces. She's a good player, but in this match, she simply couldn't deal with a really solid Gauff.
Everything worked for the 20-year-old, even the forehand, which has been a problem in the past. Although it still goes from glory to misery quite often, this match was one of her better performances regarding her forehand.
The opening set started with Gauff losing her serve. This is not unusual because her level can fluctuate a lot during a match. She broke back immediately after that and won a few games in a row, taking a 5-1 lead.
The way she plays on clay gives her a chance to break her opponents quite often, which she does, but she also can get broken often because that's just the nature of modern-day women's tennis.
Most players can return pretty powerfully, even though Gauff is one of the strongest servers on the Tour. She was able to win the opening set 6-3 and then continue that solid play in the second set.
She took an early lead in the second set and, from there, cruised to the finish line, with the final score being 6-3, 6-3. It was a great start for the American, who will play the winner of the match between Elina Avanesyan and Jaqueline Cristian in the next round.
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